1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the domain of logistics and the sorting of various articles, and more particularly to the localization, identification and collection of loose articles stored in general stores, warehouses or workshops, prior to being processed.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
The localisation of loose articles in storage areas raise numerous problems, particularly when it is question of doing so rapidly and without errors.
One known solution consists in providing these articles with a bar code and in giving each of the agents in charge of collecting these articles a portable reading device.
Unfortunately, apart from the fact that such a solution is often a source of reading errors, it proves to be inefficient when it is a question of finding the sought-for parcel among a pile of loose parcels, as it requires reviewing each parcel in order to read the bar code which is generally printed on one face only or at a determined place on the parcel which must also be sought.
This is a reason why solutions which employ electronic RFID (radio frequency identity device) marking are used at the present time. Apart from their presenting a longer life and a greater capacity for updating the marking, these solutions avoid having to turn the parcels over, as the reading devices, also called RFID interrogators, do not require a particular positioning of the electronic marking with respect to the detection antenna of the RFID interrogator, contrary to the bar code readers which involve a face to face arrangement.
Unfortunately, RFID devices still suffer considerable shortcomings. In effect, in practice, due to their relatively broad range and their wide coverage, it has proved particularly delicate for an agent to find an article presenting a determined electronic marking corresponding to a desired sorting criterion, from among a quantity of other likewise marked articles, disposed loose side by side over a storage area for example, and all in that case coming within the field of reading of the same RFID interrogator.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome these drawbacks by proposing a system for localising and automatically identifying articles, which is both simple and economical.